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A.Word.A.Day--quoin

quoin (koin, kwoin) noun

1. An external angle of a wall; outer corner.

2. One of the stones or bricks forming such an angle: cornerstone.

3. A wedge-shaped block.

verb tr.

1. To build a corner with distinctive blocks.

2. To secure metal type with a quoin (in printing).

[Variant of coin.]

Quoin pictures.

"Built between 1805 and 1813, they are white-columned and green-shuttered, with white stone quoins. And painted a giddy pink."
Sarah Ferrell; Nassau's Quieter Pleasures; The New York Times; Jan 6, 2002.

"It's the Tudor, an imposing, nine-story building of brick and rough-hewn stone, accented with smooth brownstone lintels and quoins, swelled fronts and sides."
Marilyn Jackson; Lapping up Luxury on Beacon Street; The Boston Herald; Jun 7, 2003.

This week's theme: words from architecture.

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